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As we all know, the Lord is almighty – he knows all and sees far. And so, one day, he let forest fire burn a good swath of state land, laying waste to acres of the dry, pine forest around the town of Joensuu. The people did everything in their power to put a stop to his work, as they always did, but he burned the forest undeterred, just as far as it suited him. He had his own plans.

— Väinö Linna

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More quotes by Väinö Linna

'Koskela the Finn. Eats iron and shits chains.'

The younger troops assumed their ranks. There they stood, bumbling into lines with a bit of difficulty: Mother Finland's chosen sacrifice to world history.

'The battalion can operate very well without you. No man is indispensable in a war, no matter who he is.'

Jorma Kariluoto had paid his dues into the common pot of human idiocy.

Once Koskela saw that the guns were ready to go, he called out, 'Shoot for their nuts!'

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Väinö Linna (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.